Gospel
Lk 14:25-33

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,and he turned and addressed them,
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way,
anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.”

My God is omnipotent.

And the reason behind it? He already knew that He’ll be out of the scene for quite some time, technically speaking.

To be a disciple is a turning point in one’s life. Once you’re in, you’ll never be out. A sweet entrapment as the saints call it. A disciple is to be a prisoner of God’s love.

I am amazed at how the gospel today gives a strong sense of “leaving everything behind and follow Him”. It must have been tough for Peter and the rest of the guys. But you see, when God gives a tall order, and even before He sets you in a place or situation where you are called to be a disciple, He knows at hand what you will be up to and gives you all the graces that you will be needing to finish the task. He’s been there, and done that. He is the Master plotter anyway.

In those trying times when faith needs to be tested and I am called to be His disciple, it is sometimes more convenient to just shrug it off and say It wouldn’t matter anyway and turn down the task. For sure, I can just say no, or maybe some other time. But then I am confronted with the words of our Lord “If you cannot carry your cross and follow Me, you cannot be called my disciple”. Reflecting on those words places everything I do into the right motives, everything then falls into the right places, and my views, into their right perspective. The task becomes a blessing, not a burden.

Tomorrow, God may give me a new task, and I take pride to be a part of His team of disciples, the cross may be too heavy to bear or so overwhelming as giving off all my possessions. But I know that the Lord will be there to coach me along the way. God will give me the right direction and He will bring me to my destination, safe and sound. And as they say, when a disciples task is completed, it must be perfected and marked with a seal. Handcrafted by Jesus.

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Got my pen tablet already and I've made some doodles and sketches... just for fun... I hope I get all the discipline that I need to atleast make 1 illustration a day... hehehe sinusulit lang.






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Here is a postmortem tribute to signore luciano, gratzie... may you rest in peace...still gives me goosebumps tuwing nadidinig kong kinakanta nya to...



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About two weeks ago, nakita ko na rin finally si Dom lawrence in person, biglang napaluwas ang monk because of a family affair, ang monk, sinundo namin sa baclaran, at ma PR, he did the talking most of the time and I was surpised na di sya nauubusan ng kwento, peace tayo bro... sabi ko sa sarili ko... mukhang naipon to sa kumbento... ahahaha ngayun lang kasi nakalabas ulit. So kumain kami sa dads and had coffee sa starbucks...late na din kami nakauwi almost 1 in the morning na, but it was really fun and I am glad to finally see the monk in person.